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Loeb claims his 71st career WRC win with Acropolis Rally triumph

Sébastien Loeb captured the Acropolis Rally for the third time in his career with his win on Sunday. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Sébastien Loeb joined world rally legends Miki Biasion, Walter Rohrl and Carlos Sainz by becoming a three-time winner of the Acropolis Rally following his standout triumph in Loutraki on Sunday.

Conditions on the Acropolis Rally this year were even more difficult than usual, with heavy rain over all four days meaning that the grip was extremely variable. This put the emphasis on tire choice, with the drivers having to decide whether to use hard- or soft-compound tires.

Piloting a Citroën DS3 WRC alongside co-driver Daniel Elena, Loeb performed faultlessly to secure his 71st career victory after fending off a host of rivals. And by claiming three bonus points for winning the event-closing Power Stage, Loeb's lead of the WRC drivers' standings increases to 30 points with seven rounds remaining.

“This rally was so long and difficult,” said Loeb, who survived a scare on the final morning when he stopped to change a left-rear puncture after three kilometers. “We had some good luck in the morning, but in general we had to fight really hard every minute. It was really good: I tried to always keep my rhythm and do what I felt, managing the car and the tires. I think everyone has driven a great rally, which makes it even more satisfying to win.”

Petter Solberg started Sunday's five stages trailing Loeb by 10.2 seconds only to crash out on the opening test in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. The Norwegian's misfortune--he tore a rear wheel off his car after striking a tree--promoted Loeb's teammate Mikko Hirvonen up to second, with Jari-Matti Latvala securing the final podium place in third. Latvala marked his return from injury (broken collarbone) by claiming 10 fastest stage times on the rough Greek event, having been forced to miss the last round in Argentina.

“At least after a long time I'm back on the podium,” said the factory Ford driver. “I'm a bit disappointed though because we definitely could have won.”

Having closed the gap to Loeb to just one second on Saturday morning, Latvala swiped a bank and picked up a rear puncture, which eventually broke the wheel. He had no option but to stop and change it, which cost three and a half minutes--a time loss that he could not recover.

Behind Latvala, Mads Ostberg moved into third overall in the WRC standings by finishing fourth in Greece with his privateer Ford, albeit a long way behind the leading trio. Martin Prokop and Thierry Neuville also continued their strong scoring runs with fifth and sixth places, driving a Ford and a Citroën, respectively.

Suspected engine problems prevented Ford privateers Evgeny Novikov and Daniel Oliveira from getting through Sunday's first test. Qatar World Rally Team's Nasser Al-Attiyah also retired after rolling his Citroën on the Aghii Theodori stage, having challenged for the top six before the incident.

The World Rally Championship resumes in two weeks time with one of the most spectacular gravel events on the calendar: Rally New Zealand, held on the flowing roads around Auckland in mid-June.